High speed stationary pin aligner



Jan. 28, 1969 E. H. TREFF HIGH SPEED STATIONARY PIN ALIGNER ATTORNEYS Jan. 2.8, 1969 E. H. TREFF 3,424,454

HIGH SPEED STATIONARY PIN ALIGNER Filed May 20. 1966 Sheet 2 of 2 ATTORNEYS United States Patent O 3,424,454 HIGH SPEED STATIONARY PIN ALIGNER Ernest H. Treif, Port Washington, N.Y., assignor to F. L.

Smithe Machine Co., Inc., Duncansville, Pa., a corporation of New York Filed May 20, 1966, Ser. No. 551,778

U.S. Cl. 271-53 11 Claims Int. Cl. B65h 3/30, 9/06 ABSTRACT F THE DISCLOSURE An apparatus for advancing blanks of flexible sheet metal and means to properly align the blanks with respect to the path along which they are advanced.

The present invention relates to apparatus for handling blanks, such as blanks of ilexible sheet material, which, during their treatment, are advanced along a given path and which must be properly aligned with respect to the path along which they are advanced.

For example, in the manufacture of envelopes, the envelope blanks are successively advanced along a given path with respect to which the envelopes must be properly aligned in order to have the envelope-manufacturing apparatus perform proper operations on the successive blanks.

Thus, the present invention deals particularly with that type of apparatus which is capable of properly aligning blanks of this type with respect to the path along which the blanks move.

While blank-aligning apparatus of the above type is already known, the known apparatus suiers from the drawback of being relatively complex and expensive. For example, it is known to engage blanks, as they are advanced along a given path, with aligning pins which contact the trailing edge of a given blank and which accelerate the blank as it moves so that both of the pins will engage the blank at a trailing edge thereof for properly aligning the blank with respect to the path along which it is advanced. The disadvantage of this type of construction is, on the one hand, that the aligning pins must accelerate the blanks and must of course be moved substantially along the same path as the blanks themselves are moved. Furthermore, where the blanks are made of relatively delicate sheet material, the extent to which the speed of movement of the blanks can be accelerated is quite limited, so that special arrangements are required Ifor taking care of such a situation, such as an arrangement where the speed `of movement of the blanks is gradually increased while different sets of aligning pins, which move at different speeds, come into engagement with the trailing edges of the blanks. Of course, when dealing with structures of this latter type, the cost and complexity become undesirably great.

It is, therefore, a primary object of the present invention to provide an aligning apparatus which is far simpler than the known aligning structures while at the same time capable of operating very efficiently t-o provide a highly reliable alignment of successive blanks with respect to a path along which they are advanced.

In particular, it is an object of the invention to provide a blank-aligning apparatus which need not be moved along the path of movement of the blanks and which, in fact, can remain at a fixed, predetermined location for engaging the successive blanks and aligning them with respect to the path along which they are advanced.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a blank-aligning apparatus which is capable of operating at very high speed, so that the blanks can be advanced very rapidly along the desired path of movement, thus achiev- Mice ing with the aligning apparatus of the invention a high output, beyond anything capable with the prior art.

In addition, it is an object of the invention to provide a blank-aligning apparatus which is capable of handling thin, relatively ldelicate sheet material without any danger of injuring the sheet material.

In general, the objects of the present invention include the provision of a simple, highly reliable, inexpensive structure which `can be incorporated into existing machines for the purpose of aligning blanks which move therethrough at high speed.

Thus a blank-advancing means successively advances the blanks into engagement with the aligning means which, according to the invention, remains at a xed, predetermined location with respect to the path `of movement along which the blanks are advanced.

The invention is illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings which form part of the application and in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic, p'artly sectional, side elevation of one possible embodiment of an apparatus which includes the structure of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic, partly sectional, plan view, taken along line 2 2 of FIG. 1 in the direction of the arrows;

FIG. 3 is a schematic illustration of the manner in which blanks are treated according to the invention, the blanks being shown as they appear when looking toward the underside of the blanks; and

FIG. 4 is a diagrammatic representation of the manner in which aligning is achieved with the invention.

Referring to FIGS. l and 2, it will be seen that a pair of endless conveyor bands 10 convey the overlapping envelope blanks 12 to the right, as viewed in FIGS. l and 2. The conveyor bands 10 are driven by pulleys 14 which are in turn driven by a chain and sprocket drive 16, for example. The blanks 12 are illustrated as, for example, coming from a drier where gum was dried on the portions of the blanks which are in non-overlapping relationship, as is well known in the art.

As the blanks are advanced by the conveyor 10 they are held on the conveyor by spring-pressed roller assemblies 18. These assemblies are carried by the same framework Which supports the bearings for the shafts which carry the pulleys 14, for example. The spring-pressed roller assemblies 18 include rollers 20 rotatably carried by suitable brackets 22 which are in turn pivotally mounted on suitable frame members 24 and which are acted upon by the springs 26 in the manner illustrated in FIG. 1 so as to maintain the blanks properly positioned on the conveyor bands as the blanks are advanced to the right, as viewed in FIGS. 1 and 2.

In this way the blanks will reach a driving roller 28. This roller 28 is carried by a shaft V32 which is driven in any suitable way, as by a suitable chain and sprocket drive 30, so that as the overlapping blanks 12 reach the roller 28, the latter will engage and continue the advance of each blank. In this way, the blanks will continue to advance to the right beyond the roller 28.

Bridging the space between the conveyor bands 10 and the roller 28 is a stationary support 34 along which the blanks slide as they are fed to the roller 28. A stationary shaft 36 of the frame supports a bell crank, 38 for turning movement, and a spring 40 acts on the bell crank 38 t0 urge a roller 42, turnably carried thereby, toward the roller 28. This roller 42 cooperates with roller 28 to advance each blank. Each blank is thus advanced to the right, as viewed in FIGS. 1 and 2.

In accordance with the invention the blanks which are advanced by the advancing means 28 are aligned with respect to the path along which the blanks are advanced. This path is situated, in the illustrated example, in a horizontal plane which includes the upper surfaces of the upper runs of the endless conveyor belts 10. Within this plane, a straight line situated midway between the belts will define the path along which the blanks are to be advanced and with respect to which the blanks are to be aligned.

Referring to FIG. 3, the straight line L indicates the path along which the blanks are to be advanced. In accordance with the invention the leading edge E of each blank is displaced iby the advancing means 28 into engagement with a pair of pins 44 which form the aligning means of the invention. Of course, it is conceivable that with certain types of blanks only one pin would be required. As is apparent from FIG. 3, the advancing means 28 advances the leading edge E into engagement with the pair of pins 44 which are spaced equidistantly from and on opposite sides of the straight line L which defines the path of movement of the blanks and which is perpendicular to a plane which includes the axes of pins 44. The configuration of the blanks is such that curved corners C at the leading edges thereof will engage the pins 44 in order to be accurately aligned in this way with respect to the path L.

The manner in which the structure operates is particularly indicated in FIG. 4. Assuming that the blank B in FIG. 4 is out of line, as indicated, then the advancing means 28 will displace one of the curved corners C into engagement with one of the aligning pins 44 before the other of the curved corners reaches the other aligning pin, and in this way the advancing means will automatically swing the blank B, as indicated by the arrow A in FIG. 4, until both of the corners C engage the pair of pins 44 so as to provide accurate alignment. It is to be noted that this alignment is not only with respect to proper angular orientation but also with respect to proper lateral shifting of the blank so that it is positioned both angularly and laterally at a location where the straight-line path L bisects the blank to guarantee proper treatment thereof by the structure of the machine.

Returning now to FIGS. 1 and 2, it will be seen that a support means supports the pins 44 for movement to and from positions where these pins extend through the plane which includes the path L along which the blanks are advanced by the advancing means 28. This support means takes the form of a pair of stationary block or guide portions 46 of a block 47 carried in any suitable way by the frame of the machine and formed with bores which extend perpendicularly with respect to the plane which includes the blanks B. The aligning pins 44 are slidably guided in these bores so as to extend perpendicularly with respect to the plane occupied by the `blanks for movement through this plane into the path of the leading edges E of the successive blanks.

A cam means is provided for periodically displacing the aligning pins 44 into the path of movement of the successive blanks, and this cam means includes the pair of rotary shafts 48 and 49 driven in any suitable way, as by a chain and sprocket drives 50 and 51, and supported for rotation about their common axis by any suitable bearings carried by the framework of the machine. The cam shafts 48 and 49 respectively, carry a pair of identical angularly aligned cams 52 which engage the upper head members 54 fixed to the top ends of the respective pins 44.

A spring means is provided for urging the aligning pin 44 away from the plane which includes the path of movement of the blanks, and this spring means includes a pair of coil springs 56 coiled about the respective pins 44 between the guide portions 46 and the head members S4 so that these springs 56 urge the pins 44 upwardly to elevations where their bottom ends are situated above the plane in which the blanks are advanced.

The timing of the drives for the advancing means 28 and the cam means 52 is such that as each blank B is gripped between the roller 28 and the roller 42, the cams 52 displace pins 44 downwardly so that they are situated in the path of movement of the leading edge E of the blank, and of course this leading edge E is displaced directly into engagement with the pair of pins 44. It has been found desirable to arrange the parts so that each blank B will in fact buckle upwardly as indicated in FIG. l, so as to guarantee proper alignment of the blanks. For this purpose, a guide 43 having an upper buckle-inducing hump is provided. At the next instant the rotary cams 52 have reached a position where they permit the springs S6 to advance the pins 44 upwardly from the planes occupied by the blanks, so that they now can continue to advance, properly aligned, along the predetermined path. Before the next blank reaches a plane which includes the parallel axes of the pins 44, these pins 44 will again be displaced downwardly into the path of movement of the leading edge E of the next blank, so that the aligning operations are cyclically repeated for each successive blank which is advanced by the advancing means 28.

As the pins 44 are retracted upwardly out of the plane of the blank by the springs 56, the blank is temporarily held against the underside of the block 47 by suction until, at the next instant, the blank is engaged and transported beyond the block 47, in a manner described below, whereupon the suction is of course released from the blank. For this purpose the block 47 is formed with suction ports 61 communicating with the underside of the block and these ports 61 are situated substantially in alignment with the pins 46. The ports 61 communicate with an elongated suction bore 63 which is formed in the block 47 and which communicates with an elongated tube 65 projecting from the block and forming an extension of the bore 63 thereof. A tube 67, of U-shaped configuration, is adapted to be swung to and from a position where it communicates with the tube 65, and for this purpose the tube 67 is connected by a fluid-tight swivel joint with a tube 71 which communicates with any suitable source of suction, as shown diagrammatically in FIG. 2. When the tube 67 isswung downwardly from the position thereof shown in FIG. 1 about the axis of the swivel joint 69, the free end of the tube 67 distant from the swivel joint will be aligned with the tube 65 so as to provide suction through the tube 65 and the bore 63, thus also providing suction at the ports 61.

In order to swing the tube 67 about the axis of the swived joint 69, a lug which is fixed to the tube 67 is pivotally connected with a link 73 which is in turn pivotally connected at its upper end, as viewed in FIG. l, to a lever 75 which is pivoted intermediate its ends on a stationary pivot 77 and which is urged by a spring 79 into engagement with a cam 81 fixedly carried by the rotary cam shaft 48 and having substantially the configuration indicated in FIG. 1. Therefore, the cam 81 necessarily is timed with the cams 52, and the arrangement is such that when the cams 52 permit the springs 56 to retract the pins 44, the suction tube 67 is swung downwardly into alignment with the suction tube 65 to provide through the ports 61 a force of suction on the blank engaging the underside of the block 47 for a period of time sufficient to retain the blank in its properly registered position until it is advanced beyond the block 47 by the structure described below. At the precise instant which immediately precedes engagement of the blank by the structure which transports it beyond the block 47, the tube 67 is swung back up to the position indicated in FIG. l so that the tube 65 now communicates with the outer atmosphere and the suction on the blank at the ports 61 is of course released.

From the pair of aligning pins 44 the successive blanks can be advanced by any suitable structure. FIGS. 1 and 2 show a rotary drum 56, driven as by a suitable chain and sprocket drive 58, and having its outer cylindrical wall formed with rectangular slots 60 which communicate through suitable tubes of rectangular cross section with an elongated tube 62 mounted in the interior of the drum and having an open end communicating with the end 64 of the drum 56. The end wall 64 is in slidable Huid-tight engagement with an arcuate suction box 66 which has a peripheral edge slidably engaging the end wall 64 and which is positioned *by the framework at the location shown most clearly in FIG. l. The hollow suction box 66 is closed by the rotary end wall 64 and communicates through a suitable conduit 68 with any source of suction provided by a suitable suction pump.

Situated over the drum 56 is a pull-out segment 70 carried by a shaft 72 which is driven from any suitable chain and sprocket drive 74, for example, and the outer segment 76 of the member 70 engages the blanks while they overlap the slots 60 to pull them successively away from block 47. At this time the tube 62 communicates with the interior of the suction box 66 so that the blanks are held by suction against the exterior surface of the rotary drum 56 which turns in a clockwise direction, as indicated by the arrow 76.

It is to be noted that the advancing means 28 turns in a counterclockwise direction, as viewed in FIG. l, while the cams 52 also turn in a counterclockwise direction, as viewed in FIG. l. Thus, with the parts in the position shown in FIG. l, the pins 44 are about to be raised by the springs 56 with the leading edge of the buckled blank B of FIG. l about to be received between the exterior surface of the drum 56 and the segment 76 of the member 70.

As long as the tube 62 communicates with the suction box 66 the blank is held against the exterior surface of the drum 56. The suction box 66 extends through an angle of approximately 90. At this time the blank will be transferred to a second drum 78 whose construction is identical with the drum 56, this second drum being driven by any suitable chain and sprocket drive 80. The suction tube 82 of the drum 78 communicates through slots 84 with the exterior surface of the drum 78 so as to maintain a blank in engagement with the drum 78 as long as the tube 82 communicates with a source of suction. For this purpose the end wall 86 of the drum 78 slidably and Huid-tightly engages the peripheral edge of the arcuate suction box 88 which communicates through a tube 90 with a source of suction, and it will be noted from FIG. l that the suction box 88 extends through an arc of approximatey 180.

The drum 78 turns in a counterclockwise direction, as shown by the arrow 92, and in this way the slots 84 will 'be under suction to maintain a blank in engagement with the drum 78 until the blank reaches the conveyor bands 94. The pair of endless conveyors 94 are driven by pulleys 96 which yare in turn carried by a shaft 98 and driven from any suitable chain and sprocket drive 100. In this way the successive blanks will be carried by the conveyors 94 to a location where they will be further treated in any well known manner.

It is thus apparent that with the structure of the invention, a high-speed aligner is provided which does not require any aligning pins to be carried by endless bands or sprocket chains or the like. In addition, different sets of pins which move at different speeds for accelerating the blanks are not required. Instead the blanks are simply advanced by the `advancing means 28 successively into engagement with the aligning pins 44 which are cyclically advanced into and out of the path of movement of the blanks to provide the accurate aligning thereof in a highspeed manner which greatly increases the output of the machine.

It is apparent that the aligning apparatus of the invention can easily be incorporated into existing machines. Furthermore, it is a simple matter to mount the guide portions 46 so that they can be adjusted in order to adapt the location of the pins 44 to the configurations of the particular blanks which are to be aligned.

What is claimed is:

1. In a blank-aligning apparatus, advancing means for advancing blanks successively along a given path, and aligning `means situated in said path for engagement by the successive blanks, said aligning means, by engagement with said blanks, aligning the latter with respect to said path, said aligning means having a predetermined fixed location with respect to said path, a guide having a buckleinducing hump engaging a surface of each of said advancing blanks, said guide being located before said aligning means and cooperating with said advancing means for successively buckling each of said blanks by pressing its leading edge against said aligning means for aligning said blank with respect to said path, said aligning means being adapted to disengage the respective blanks after attaining alignment thereof and permitting advancement thereof in an aligned fashion along said path.

2. The combination of claim 1 and wherein a stationary support means is situated at said location and supports said aligning means for movement at said location into and out of the path along which the blanks are advanced by said advancing means.

3. The combination of claim 2 and wherein a cam means coacts with said aligning means for displacing the latter with respect to said support means into and out of the path of movement of the successive blanks.

4. The combination of claim 3 and wherein said aligning Ameans include at least one elongated aligning pin means, said support means including 4a stationary guide member in which said pin means is slidably guided for movement to and from a position situated in a plane of movement of the successive blanks, and said cam means acting on said pin means for displacing the latter into the plane of movement of each successive blank.

5. The combination of claim 4 and wherein a spring means engages said pin means for urging the latter to a position situated beyond the plane of movement of the successive blanks, and said spring means maintaining said pin means in engagement with said cam means.

6. The combination of claim 4 and wherein said advancing means advances the successive blanks along said path while said pin means is guided by said guide member for movement in a direction substantially perpendicular to said given path of a leading edge of a blank to be engaged by the latter.

7. The combination of claim 6 and wherein said advancing means buckles the blank while pressing its leading edge against said pin means for aligning the blank with respect to said path.

8. A blank-aligning apparatus comprising advancing means for successively advancing blanks along a path situated in a predetermined plane and defined by a straight line in said plane, a pair of blank-aligning pins extending perpendicularly with respect to said plane and situated at equal distances from and on opposite sides of said straight line, a plane which includes the axes of said pins extending perpendicularly across said straight line, a pair of stationary guide members respectively situated on one side of said plane and formed with guide openings in which said pins are slidable for movement to and from positions extending through said plane, spring means acting on each of said pins for urging the latter away from said plane, and cam means acting on said pins for periodically displacing the latter in opposition to said spring means to said positions extending through said plane, said cam means and said advancing -means having with respect to each other a timed relationship according to which the leading edge of a blank advanced by said advancing means along said path will be momentarily engaged by said pins while they are in said position .extending through said plane, to be aligned by said pins with respect to said path, lbuckling means disposed between said pair of aligning pins and said advancing means for buckling each of said blanks while pressing their leading edge against said aligning pins for aligning the blanks with respect to said path, whereupon said cam means and spring means then act on said pins to release said blanks for continued movement along said path and then again displace said pins through said plane to engage the leading edge of the next blank advanced by said advancing means.

9. The combination of claim 8 and wherein said blanks are made of a flexible sheet material, said advancing means buckling each blank against said pins while aligning said blank.

10. The combination of claim 9 and wherein said blanks are envelope blanks.

11. In a blank-aligning apparatus, advancing means for advancing blanks successively along a given path, and aligning means situated in said path for engagement by the successive blanks, said aligning means, by engagement with said blanks, aligning the latter with respect to said path, said aligning means having a predetermined fixed location with respect to said path, said aligning means being adapted to disengage the respective blanks after attaining alignment thereof and permitting advancement thereof in an aligned fashion along said path, a stationary support means situated at said location and supporting said aligning means for movement at said location into and out of the path along which the blanks are advanced by said advancing means, a cam means coacting with said aligning means for displacing the latter with respect to said support means into and out of the path of movement of the successive blanks, said aligning means including at least one elongated aligning pin means, said support means including a stationary guide member in which said pin means is slidably guided for movement to and from a position situated in a plane of movement of the successive blanks, and said cam means acting on said pin means `for displacing the latter into the plane of movement of each successive blank, said advancing means advancing the successive blanks along said path while said pin means is guided by said guide member for movement in a direction substantially perpendicular to said given path of a leading edge of a blank to be engaged by the latter, further including buckling means disposed between said advancing means and said aligning means, and wherein said advancing means buckles the blank over said buckling means while pressing its leading edge against said pin means for aligning the blank with respect to said path.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,839,880 6/1958 Boughton 271-53 3,072,397 1/1963 Kelchner 271-63 3,116,658 1/1964 Baker 271-60 RICHARD E. AEGERTER, Primary Examiner.

U.S. Cl. X.R. 271-19 

